PhD thesis - theoretical considerations

The first month of PhD studies I mainly devoted to formulating preliminary dissertation topic, objectives and methodology.

I decided to focus on multiscale surface functionalization of biomaterials for contact with blood in order to minimize activation of the coagulation system. Therefore most of the time I have spent doing literature review concerning surface modification techniques enhanced materials biocompatibility. Among the available methods, the layer-by-layer deposition technique introduced by Decher and co-workers in 1992 has attracted my attention because it posseses extraordinary advantages for biomedical applications: ease of preparation, versatility, capability of incorporating high loadings of different types of biomolecules in the films, fine control over the materials’ structure, and robustness of the products under ambient and physiological conditions. This method consists in alternately depositing polyelectrolytes that self-assemble and self-organize on the material’s surface, leading to the formation of polyelectrolyte multilayer films (PEM). In future studies I would like to focus on PEM made of ECM components (e.g. collagen, gelatin, fibronectin, hyaluronic acid ) in order to render them more biomimetic.

Conferences and seminars

In October I participated in the 2nd Workshop ‘Advanced Electron Microscopy Methods Applied to Investigation of Nanomaterials’, organized by Warsaw University of Technology & Hitachi High-Technologies (Warsaw, 06-07.10.2011).

I also attended in the following seminars:

• ‘Crystallographic aspects of the formation of shear bands in a strongly anisotropic structure of the alloy AA1050’ given by Dr. A. Tarasek
• ‘Energy-efficient microelectronics - The contribution of materials science and engineering’ given by Prof. E. Zschech
• ‘Using the free volume model for the description of liquid binary alloys’ given by MSc M. Trybula
• ‘Carbon is Future - Some Industrial Perspectives and Challenges’ given by Dr. O. Öttinger